The project took root in September 2022, during a discussion bringing together members of the municipal council and several representatives from different services. This meeting resulted in a strategic plan (2023-2030). Among the central points of this plan is the review of governance within the municipal council to make it more agile and efficient. The same had to be done for the administration.
“For several years, we have gone from a large village to a city,” said Louis Villeneuve in an interview, accompanied for the occasion by the general director Francis Dorion and the assistant general director, Christine Chartier. Bromont is experiencing a growth crisis. It’s good to grow, but the first word is crisis. That means challenges. This is an important time to question yourself. The job of a council and a municipal administration is to serve citizens. […] With [le personnel et la structure] what we have, are we capable of improving the quality of services?
Francis Dorion (Catherine Trudeau/La Voix de l’Est)
“The machine has poorly adapted to this speed of growth,” continued Francis Dorion. We did well, but today, it is clear that internal files have become more complex. But, the structure has not changed and dates from the creation of the cities. There is collaboration, but each service is oriented towards professions and [travaille] quite siled. We must have synergy between them to offer a better service to citizens, at the best possible cost.”
Furthermore, this reorganization is a first in Quebec, affirmed Louis Villeneuve, specifying that a specialist supported the City in this revision of its structure. “Bromont is still innovating,” he said. We are convinced that we will do better for the citizens.”
Overload
In May and June 2023, general management met with all municipal employees (more than 200). “We wanted to know the challenges of our staff. Their status does not matter, said the DG. They were able to express themselves, express opinions, ideas. What comes back is that the workload is very high. The teams are out of breath. We are a dynamic city and there are several projects”
The current structure is such that service directors are “90% of the time in operational tasks”. “We must allow people to break away, to become more strategic to review the way of working and providing services to citizens,” said Francis Dorion. […] To do that, we have to put the right people in the right places to use their strengths.”
Too often, the Municipality is “in reaction”, underlined the mayor. “We put out fires. Everywhere, in all services. We need to find a way to be more agile to allow people to do the work that comes with their position.”
Mergers
In fact, the new structure will reduce the number of services from 11 to 5. We are not talking about job cuts or hiring. The concept of “one-stop shopping” will be recommended, both for the approach with citizens and within City staff.
Christine Chartier (Catherine Trudeau/La Voix de l’Est)
“We are moving more towards offering a line of services,” summarized Christine Chartier. The vision of the structure is different. We are less focused on the task and more on the result. […] We rely on smaller, more autonomous teams. It will also allow young executives to have better career progression.”
The registry service will remain under the management of the general management. Technical Services and Public Works will be merged under the leadership of Asset Management and Major Projects. “It’s important to look at our assets as a whole,” said Christine Chartier. You can’t say you build something and then move on [la pôle] to the next department for maintenance. Everything is interconnected.”
The administrative services and organizational support, human resources and IT departments will now form a single entity.
In addition, “the three axes of sustainable development will be grouped under the same management,” indicated Francis Dorion. These are town planning, the environment and adaptation to climate change, then tourism.
The new structure will reduce the number of services from 11 to 5. (Archives La Voix de l’Est)
Next comes the community relations and citizen experience department. We will bring together the leisure, sports and community life services, then the communications service. It is in this direction that we will find the “one-stop shop for citizen services” “In person and via digital platforms,” specified the director general.
The last department is that of public security, which will include the fire safety and police services. “We are not talking about a merger. The police have their own law and so do fires. Everyone will have their own director. However, one person will bridge the gap between the two directions.
We hope to achieve this transition over the next year, said the CEO. “And we give ourselves two to three years afterwards so that everything is well established.”
